... I'm guilty of submitting with all three versions, depending on if I'm working on Ubuntu, Solaris, Windows or Mac. I too find it convenient when the versions match and if we decided on a specific version, I would just install that one from source on the machines I'm using. The build of autoconf takes a couple of seconds and has so far never failed for me, so it's not unreasonable or hard.
Right that is my understanding too. I have a single machine that I use for regenerating the generated-configure, and I will simply setup whatever version is required.
I don't think we need a hard mandate, just a softer agreement to use a specific version, to minimize noise. If someone cannot use that version, then so be it, but if possible then it should be encouraged.
-Chris.
